Distant thunder: The regional economies of southwest China and the impact of the great depression

Modern Asian Studies

Volumn 34, Issue 3, 2000, Pages 697-738

  Wright, Tim ^a  

^a MURDOCH UNIVERSITY   (Australia)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

COMMODITY PRICE; ECONOMIC HISTORY; ECONOMIC IMPACT; GREAT DEPRESSION; REGIONAL ECONOMY;

CHINA;

EID: 0033884308     PISSN: 0026749X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/s0026749x0000384x     Document Type: Article

References (238)

1. The research for this paper was carried out partly with the help of an Australian Research Council grant which enabled me to go to China to collect materials and discuss the issues with Chinese scholars. I would also like to thank scholars at Yunnan and Sichuan Universities and the Academies of Social Sciences in the two provinces as well as at Nankai University and the Institute of Economics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing for giving me much help and enlightenment on this topic. In addition I would like to thank Beverley Hooper and Anne-Marie Medcalf for helpful suggestions and comments on earlier drafts.
2. See, for example, Zhongguo renmin daxue zhengzhi jingji xue xi 'Zhongguo jindai jingji shi' bianxie zu, Zhongguo jindai jingji shi (Economic history of modern China) (Beijing: Renmin chuban she, 1978), vol. 2, pp. 34, 48-9.
3. Xu Dixin and Wu Chengming (eds), Xin minzhuzhuyi geming shiqi de Zhongguo Zibenzhuyi (Chinese capitalism in the period of the new democratic revolution) Zhongguo zibenzhuyi fazhan shi (The history of Chinese capitalism), vol. 3 (Beijing: Renmin chuban she, 1993), p. 5. Wu refers to the years 1932-35 because China was partially protected from the impact of the Depression up to 1931 because of the fall in the price of silver.
4. See David Faure, 'The Plight of the Farmers: A Study of the Rural Economy of Jiangnan and the Pearl River Delta, 1870-1937', Modern China 11.1 (Jan. 1985): 26-31.
5. Loren Brandt and Thomas J. Sargent, 'Interpreting New Evidence about China and U.S. Silver Purchases', Journal of Monetary Economics 23 (Jan. 1989): 31-4, 46-7; Brandt's arguments won over an initially skeptical Ramon Myers, see 'The World Depression and the Chinese Economy, 1930-6', pp. 253-78 in Ian Brown (ed.), The Economies of Africa and Asia in the Inter-war Depression (London: Routledge, 1989).
6. Loren Brandt and Thomas J. Sargent, 'Interpreting New Evidence about China and U.S. Silver Purchases', Journal of Monetary Economics 23 (Jan. 1989): 31-4, 46-7; Brandt's arguments won over an initially skeptical Ramon Myers, see 'The World Depression and the Chinese Economy, 1930-6', pp. 253-78 in Ian Brown (ed.), The Economies of Africa and Asia in the Inter-war Depression (London: Routledge, 1989).
7. Milton Friedman, 'Franklin D. Roosevelt, Silver, and China', Journal of Political Economy 100.1 (February 1992): 62-83; see also the reply by Thomas G. Rawski, 'Milton Friedman, Silver and China', Journal of Political Economy 101.4 (Aug. 1993): 755-8.
8. Milton Friedman, 'Franklin D. Roosevelt, Silver, and China', Journal of Political Economy 100.1 (February 1992): 62-83; see also the reply by Thomas G. Rawski, 'Milton Friedman, Silver and China', Journal of Political Economy 101.4 (Aug. 1993): 755-8.
9. Yu Jianwei, 'Zhongguo jingji fazhan zhong de zhongchangqi podong' (Long and medium term fluctuations in China's economic development), Tianfu xinlun (Tianfu papers) 1989.4 (1989): 30.
10. See Loren Brandt, Commercialization and Agricultural Development: Central and Eastern China, 1870-1937 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1989), pp. 25-37.
11. See G. William Skinner, 'Regional Urbanization in Nineteenth Century China', in G. William Skinner (ed.), The City in Late Imperial China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1977), p. 217; for the controversy on the 20th century economy, see Barbara Sands and Ramon H. Myers, 'The Spatial Approach to Chinese History: A Test', Journal of Asian Studies 45.4 (Aug. 1986): 721-43, and the two responses, Daniel Little and Joseph W. Esherick, 'Testing the Testers: A Reply to Barbara Sands and Ramon Myers's Critique of G. William Skinner's Regional Systems Approach to China', Journal of Asian Studies 48.1 (Feb. 1989): 90-9 and William Lavely, 'The Spatial Approach to Chinese History: Illustrations from North China and the Upper Yangzi', Journal of Asian Studies 48.1 (Feb. 1989): 100-13.
12. See G. William Skinner, 'Regional Urbanization in Nineteenth Century China', in G. William Skinner (ed.), The City in Late Imperial China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1977), p. 217; for the controversy on the 20th century economy, see Barbara Sands and Ramon H. Myers, 'The Spatial Approach to Chinese History: A Test', Journal of Asian Studies 45.4 (Aug. 1986): 721-43, and the two responses, Daniel Little and Joseph W. Esherick, 'Testing the Testers: A Reply to Barbara Sands and Ramon Myers's Critique of G. William Skinner's Regional Systems Approach to China', Journal of Asian Studies 48.1 (Feb. 1989): 90-9 and William Lavely, 'The Spatial Approach to Chinese History: Illustrations from North China and the Upper Yangzi', Journal of Asian Studies 48.1 (Feb. 1989): 100-13.
13. See G. William Skinner, 'Regional Urbanization in Nineteenth Century China', in G. William Skinner (ed.), The City in Late Imperial China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1977), p. 217; for the controversy on the 20th century economy, see Barbara Sands and Ramon H. Myers, 'The Spatial Approach to Chinese History: A Test', Journal of Asian Studies 45.4 (Aug. 1986): 721-43, and the two responses, Daniel Little and Joseph W. Esherick, 'Testing the Testers: A Reply to Barbara Sands and Ramon Myers's Critique of G. William Skinner's Regional Systems Approach to China', Journal of Asian Studies 48.1 (Feb. 1989): 90-9 and William Lavely, 'The Spatial Approach to Chinese History: Illustrations from North China and the Upper Yangzi', Journal of Asian Studies 48.1 (Feb. 1989): 100-13.
14. See G. William Skinner, 'Regional Urbanization in Nineteenth Century China', in G. William Skinner (ed.), The City in Late Imperial China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1977), p. 217; for the controversy on the 20th century economy, see Barbara Sands and Ramon H. Myers, 'The Spatial Approach to Chinese History: A Test', Journal of Asian Studies 45.4 (Aug. 1986): 721-43, and the two responses, Daniel Little and Joseph W. Esherick, 'Testing the Testers: A Reply to Barbara Sands and Ramon Myers's Critique of G. William Skinner's Regional Systems Approach to China', Journal of Asian Studies 48.1 (Feb. 1989): 90-9 and William Lavely, 'The Spatial Approach to Chinese History: Illustrations from North China and the Upper Yangzi', Journal of Asian Studies 48.1 (Feb. 1989): 100-13.
15. The Upper Yangzi macroregion excluded the far west of Sichuan, and included relatively small areas of southern Gansu, northern Guizhou and northeastern Yunnan. In this paper data limitations mean that most of the statements refer to the province of Sichuan. See Skinner, 'Regional Urbanization', p. 215.
16. The Yun-Gui macroregion included all of Yunnan except the far northwest and far northeast, and most of Guizhou except for a strip along the north and a somewhat larger area to the east. Nevertheless, much the largest part of both provinces lay within the macroregion.
17. For the formation of the Upper Yangzi macroregion see Paul J. Smith, 'Commerce, Agriculture and Core Formation in the Upper Yangzi, 2 A.D. to 1948', Late Imperial China 9.1 (June 1988): 1-78.
18. S. A. M. Adshead, Province and Politics in Late Imperial China: Viceregal Government in Szechwan, 1898-1911 (London: Curzon Press, 1984), chs I and V.
19. G. William Skinner, 'Cities and the Hierarchy of Local Systems', in Skinner The City in Late Imperial China, pp. 288-98.
20. Sichuan jingji yuekan (Sichuan economic monthly) (hereafter SJYK) 3.4/5 (April/May 1935): 168.
21. Mo Zhongxie, Sichuan sheng yancao diaocha (Investigation of tobacco in Sichuan) (Chongqing: Sichuan sheng nongye gaijin suo, 1940), p. 5.
22. For the formation of the Yun-Gui macroregion, see James Lee, 'Food Supply and Population Growth in Southwest China, 1250-1850', Journal of Asian Studies 41.4 (Aug. 1982): 711-46.
23. Wang Fuming, 'Jindai Yunnan quyu shichang chutan (1875-1911)' (A preliminary discussion of the regional market of modern Yunnan, 1875-1911), Zhongguo jingji shi janjiu (Studies in Chinese economic history) 1990.(1990): 103.
24. Lu Fuchu, chief ed., Kunming shi zhi changbian (Kunming city gazetteer, full edition), 13 vols (Kunming: Kunming shi zhi bianzuan weiyuanhui, 1983-84), vol. 11, p. 44.
25. Chris Bramall, Living Standards in Sichuan, 1931-1978 (London: Contemporary-China Institute, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 1989), pp. 75-85.
26. K. C. Yeh, 'China's National Income, 1931-36', in Chi-ming Hou and Tzongshian Yu (eds), Modern Chinese Economic History: Proceedings of the Conference on Modern Chinese Economic History, Academic Sinica (Taipei: Institute of Economics, Academic Sinica, 1979), p. 104.
27. These figures only include legal exports registered by the Maritime Customs through the ports of Wanxian and Chongqing in Sichuan, and Mengzi, Simao and Tengyue in Yunnan; they do not include the quite important exports from Sichuan to Northwest China and beyond and to Yunnan, nor the even more important shipments of opium, mainly down the Yangzi from Sichuan or through Guangxi to Guangzhou from Yun-Gui.
28. Xu Xinwu et al., Zhongguo jindai saosi gongye shi (A history of the Chinese silk reeling industry) (Shanghai: Renmin chuban she, 1990), p. 247.
29. 'Sericulture in Szechwan', Chinese Economic Journal 15.5 (Nov. 1934); 545.
30. In the southern Song, silk was one of the main items in the commercial expansion which began the shift in the centre of gravity of the Upper Yangzi region from the Chengdu area to Chongqing and the Yangzi valley; see Smith, 'Commerce, Agriculture and Core Formation', pp. 46, 57.
31. Kubota Bunji, 'Shinmatsu Senhoku sanshigyô no tenkai' (Development of the silk-reeling industry in Northern Sichuan in the Late Qing), Rekishigaku kenkyû 331 (Dec. 1967): 31; Lillian M. Li, China's Silk Trade: Traditional Industry in the Modern World, 1842-1937 (Cambridge, Mass: Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard University, 1981), pp. 115-16.
32. Kubota Bunji, 'Shinmatsu Senhoku sanshigyô no tenkai' (Development of the silk-reeling industry in Northern Sichuan in the Late Qing), Rekishigaku kenkyû 331 (Dec. 1967): 31; Lillian M. Li, China's Silk Trade: Traditional Industry in the Modern World, 1842-1937 (Cambridge, Mass: Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard University, 1981), pp. 115-16.
33. SJYK 5.4 (April 1936): 21; this number should not be taken literally.
34. Sichuan Yuebao (Sichuan monthly) (hereafter SYB) 2.6 (June 1933): 58.
35. Hu Huanyong, Sichuan dili (The geography of Sichuan) (Chongqing: Zhengzhong shuju, 1940), p. 37.
36. Skinner, 'Cities', p. 289.
37. Ibid., p. 291; Wang Di, Kuachu fengbi de shijie - changjiang shangyou quyu shehui yanjiu (1644-1911) (Breaking out of a closed world - studies of the society of the Upper Yangzi macroregion, 1644-1911) (Beijing: Zonghua shuju, 1993), pp. 36-7; Peng Zeyi (ed.), Zhongguo jindai shougongye shi ziliao (1840-1949) (Materials on the history of modern China's handicraft industries, 1840-1949), 4 vols (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1962), vol. 2, p. 364.
38. Ibid., p. 291; Wang Di, Kuachu fengbi de shijie - changjiang shangyou quyu shehui yanjiu (1644-1911) (Breaking out of a closed world - studies of the society of the Upper Yangzi macroregion, 1644-1911) (Beijing: Zonghua shuju, 1993), pp. 36-7; Peng Zeyi (ed.), Zhongguo jindai shougongye shi ziliao (1840-1949) (Materials on the history of modern China's handicraft industries, 1840-1949), 4 vols (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1962), vol. 2, p. 364.
39. Ibid., p. 291; Wang Di, Kuachu fengbi de shijie - changjiang shangyou quyu shehui yanjiu (1644-1911) (Breaking out of a closed world - studies of the society of the Upper Yangzi macroregion, 1644-1911) (Beijing: Zonghua shuju, 1993), pp. 36-7; Peng Zeyi (ed.), Zhongguo jindai shougongye shi ziliao (1840-1949) (Materials on the history of modern China's handicraft industries, 1840-1949), 4 vols (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1962), vol. 2, p. 364.
40. William T. Rowe, 'Tung Oil in Central China: The Rise and Fall of a Regional Export Staple', pp. 355-84 in Yung-san Lee and Ts'ui-jung Liu (eds), China's Market Economy in Transition (Taipei: Academia Sinica, 1990); SJYK 5.6 (June 1936): 12-13.
41. William T. Rowe, 'Tung Oil in Central China: The Rise and Fall of a Regional Export Staple', pp. 355-84 in Yung-san Lee and Ts'ui-jung Liu (eds), China's Market Economy in Transition (Taipei: Academia Sinica, 1990); SJYK 5.6 (June 1936): 12-13.
42. Evan Erlanson, 'Domestic Banks in Economic Development: Marketing Networks and Financial Technologies in Prewar China', Twentieth-Centuy China 24.1 (Nov. 1998): 67-118.
43. SJYK 3.3 (March 1935): 59.
44. SYB 7.6 (Dec. 1935): 100.
45. Mo, Sichuan sheng yencao, p. 3; Jin Shanbao and Jiang Yao, 'Sichuan dama yancao kaocha baogao' (Report on the hemp and tobacco industries in Sichuan), in Xinan jingji diaocha hezuo weiyuanhui, Sichuan jingji kaochatuan kaocha baogao: Nonglin (Report of an economic investigation into Sichuan: Agriculture and Forestry) (Chongqing: Duli chuban she, 1940), pp. 131-2.
46. Mo, Sichuan sheng yencao, p. 3; Jin Shanbao and Jiang Yao, 'Sichuan dama yancao kaocha baogao' (Report on the hemp and tobacco industries in Sichuan), in Xinan jingji diaocha hezuo weiyuanhui, Sichuan jingji kaochatuan kaocha baogao: Nonglin (Report of an economic investigation into Sichuan: Agriculture and Forestry) (Chongqing: Duli chuban she, 1940), pp. 131-2.
47. Mo, Sichuan sheng yencao, pp. 27-8.
48. Chongqing Zhongguo yinhang, Sichuan sheng zhi tang (The Sugar Industry in Szechuan Province) (Chongqing: Zhongguo yinhang zong guanli chu jingji yanjiu shi, 1934), pp. 84-5.
49. Wang Dongwei and Huang Jiangling, 'Jiefang qian Neijiang ganzhe zhongzhi ye gaikuang' (The Neijiang sugar industry before 1949), Sichuan wenshi ziliao xuanji (Materials on Sichuan history) (Chengdu: Sichuan renmin chuban she), 35(1985), p. 178.
50. Chongqing Zhongguo yinhang, Sichuan sheng zhi xiabu (Szechuen Linen) (Chongqing: Zhongguo yinhang zong guanli chu jingji yanjiu shi, 1936), pp. 19-20, 200, 213.
51. Zhang Xiaomei, Yunnan jingji (The economy of Yunnan) (Chongqing: Zhongguo guomin jingji yanjiu suo, 1942), J19, J15.
52. Yang Shouchuan, 'Jindai Dian xi chukou shulue' (A short account of tin exports from modern Yunnan), Sixiang zhanxian (Ideological front) 1990.4 (Aug. 1990): 83-8; 'Yunnan kuangwu gaikuang' (Mining in Yunnan), Yunnan jianshe yuekan (Yunnan Construction Monthly) 1.1 (Jan. 1937): 60; Jing-Dian gonglu zhoulan choubei hui Yunnan fen hui, Yunnan gaikuang (General survey of Yunnan) (1937), p. 52.
53. Yang Shouchuan, 'Jindai Dian xi chukou shulue' (A short account of tin exports from modern Yunnan), Sixiang zhanxian (Ideological front) 1990.4 (Aug. 1990): 83-8; 'Yunnan kuangwu gaikuang' (Mining in Yunnan), Yunnan jianshe yuekan (Yunnan Construction Monthly) 1.1 (Jan. 1937): 60; Jing-Dian gonglu zhoulan choubei hui Yunnan fen hui, Yunnan gaikuang (General survey of Yunnan) (1937), p. 52.
54. Yang Shouchuan, 'Jindai Dian xi chukou shulue' (A short account of tin exports from modern Yunnan), Sixiang zhanxian (Ideological front) 1990.4 (Aug. 1990): 83-8; 'Yunnan kuangwu gaikuang' (Mining in Yunnan), Yunnan jianshe yuekan (Yunnan Construction Monthly) 1.1 (Jan. 1937): 60; Jing-Dian gonglu zhoulan choubei hui Yunnan fen hui, Yunnan gaikuang (General survey of Yunnan) (1937), p. 52.
55. See, for example, the major economic history of modern China: Xu Dixin and Wu Chengming (eds) Jiu minzhuzhuyi geming shiqi de Zhongguo zibenzhuyi (Chinese capitalism in the period of the old democratic revolution) (Zhongguo zhibenzhuyi fazhan shi, vol. 2) (Beijing: Renmin chuban she, 1990), p. 983, though this source also points out that higher prices resulting from prohibition increased profits in the trade.
56. Wang Jinxiang, 'Er, san shi niandai guonei yapian wenti' (The problem of opium in China in the 1920s and 1930s), Minguo dang'an (Republican archives) 1992.2 (1992): 71. It would appear that the Northwest, the other major opium producing area, produced only perhaps as much as Yunnan or Guizhou, and substantially less than Sichuan. See British Foreign Office Archives, Public Record Office, London, FO 371 (hereafter, FO 371), F1887/8/87, League of Nations Report for 1937.
57. Jerome Ch'en, The Highlanders of Central China: A History 1895-1937 (Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 1992), p. 21.
58. Bramall, Living Standards, p. 30.
59. FO371, F3520/184/87, enclosure no. 2: McAmmond to Toller, 21 May 1930, and F3485/184/87: Toller to Lampson, 26 May 1930; Su Zhiliang, Zhongguo dupin shi (History of drugs in China) (Shanghai: Renmin chuban she, 1997), p. 343; Chen, Highlanders, p. 88; SYB 6.3 (March 1935): 142.
60. FO371, F3520/184/87, enclosure no. 2: McAmmond to Toller, 21 May 1930, and F3485/184/87: Toller to Lampson, 26 May 1930; Su Zhiliang, Zhongguo dupin shi (History of drugs in China) (Shanghai: Renmin chuban she, 1997), p. 343; Chen, Highlanders, p. 88; SYB 6.3 (March 1935): 142.
61. FO371, F3520/184/87, enclosure no. 2: McAmmond to Toller, 21 May 1930, and F3485/184/87: Toller to Lampson, 26 May 1930; Su Zhiliang, Zhongguo dupin shi (History of drugs in China) (Shanghai: Renmin chuban she, 1997), p. 343; Chen, Highlanders, p. 88; SYB 6.3 (March 1935): 142.
62. Robert A. Kapp, 'Chungking as a Center of Warlord Power, 1926-1937', in Mark Elvin and G. William Skinner (eds), The Chinese City Between Two Worlds (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1974), p. 157.
63. J. C. S. Hall, The Yunnan Prorincial Faction, 1927-1957 (Canberra: Department of Far Eastern History, Australian National University, 1976), pp. 126-7; a 1930 estimate was 40,000 piculs, see United States State Department Central Files, China: Internal Affairs, 893.114 (hereafter, US 893.114) Narcotics/ 178, American Consul, Hankow, to Secretary of State, Confidential Report, 12 December 1930.
64. Su, Zhongguo dupin shi, p. 328.
65. FO371, F4317/87/87, Harding to Cadogan, 6 June 1934.
66. Lu, Kunming shi zhi, vol. 12, p. 368; see also Zhang, Yunnan jingji, P1, and Hall, The Yunnan Provincial Faction, ch. 5.
67. Lu, Kunming shi zhi, vol. 12, p. 368; see also Zhang, Yunnan jingji, P1, and Hall, The Yunnan Provincial Faction, ch. 5.
68. Lu, Kunming shi zhi, vol. 12, p. 368; see also Zhang, Yunnan jingji, P1, and Hall, The Yunnan Provincial Faction, ch. 5.
69. Tang Zaiyang, 'Minguo shiqi Guizhou gongshangye gaikuang' (Industry and commerce in Guizhou during the Republican period), Guizhou wenshi congkan (Historical materials on Guizhou) 1987.2 (1987): 27; Zhou Chunyuan, He Changfeng and Zhang Xiangguang, Guizhou jindai shi (Modern history of Guizhou) (Guiyang: Renmin chuban she, 1987), p. 185. This figure seems somewhat high, in the light of the Yunnan figure and the estimates for value of output presented in Table 1.
70. Tang Zaiyang, 'Minguo shiqi Guizhou gongshangye gaikuang' (Industry and commerce in Guizhou during the Republican period), Guizhou wenshi congkan (Historical materials on Guizhou) 1987.2 (1987): 27; Zhou Chunyuan, He Changfeng and Zhang Xiangguang, Guizhou jindai shi (Modern history of Guizhou) (Guiyang: Renmin chuban she, 1987), p. 185. This figure seems somewhat high, in the light of the Yunnan figure and the estimates for value of output presented in Table 1.
71. For Guizhou see FO371, F4317/87/87, Harding to Cadogan, 6 June 1934; for Sichuan see Kuang Shanji and Yang Shurong, 'Sichuan junfa yu yapian' (Opium and the Sichuan warlords), in Xinan junfa shi yanjiu hui, Xinan junfa shi yanjiu congkan (Studies on the Southwest warlords) (Kunming: Yunnan renmin chuban she, 1985), pp. 250-1.
72. Sang Zihou, 'Jiefang qian Li xian zhongzhi yapian de qingkuang' (Opium cultivation in Li xian before 1949), in Sichuan wenshi ziliao xuanji 30 (1985), pp. 143, 153.
73. SJYK 7.5/6 (May/June 1937): 84, 8.1 (July 1937): Sichuan jingji 30.
74. 'Cotton-Yarn Trade of Szechwan', Chinese Economic Bulletin 26.1 (5 Jan. 1935): 1-8.
75. Akamatsu Sukeyuki, Shina kakushô keizai jijô (Economic situation of China's provinces) 3 vols (Tokyo: Nihon kokusai kyôkai, 1935), vol. 2, p. 242.
76. Yang Shouchuan, 'Jindai Yunnan shangpin jingji shulun' (The commodity economy in modern Yunnan), Jingji wenti tansuo (Economic problems) 1989.3 (March 1989): 633.
77. Xie Fang, 'Jindai Sichuan nongcun "gengzhi jiehe" de fenli guocheng ji qi juxian' (The breakdown of the link between agriculture and weaving in rural Sichuan and its limitations), Jindai shi yanjiu (Studies in modern history) 1990.1 (Jan. 1990): 103-4; Liu Changren, 'Chongqing kaibu zhi kangzhan qian Sichuan meanfangzhiye shengshuai gaikuang (1891-1936)' (The rise and fall of the Sichuan cotton textile industry between the opening of Chongqing as a port and the Anti-Japanese War, 1891-1936), Sichuan wenshi ziliao xuanji 40 (1992), pp. 144-8.
78. Xie Fang, 'Jindai Sichuan nongcun "gengzhi jiehe" de fenli guocheng ji qi juxian' (The breakdown of the link between agriculture and weaving in rural Sichuan and its limitations), Jindai shi yanjiu (Studies in modern history) 1990.1 (Jan. 1990): 103-4; Liu Changren, 'Chongqing kaibu zhi kangzhan qian Sichuan meanfangzhiye shengshuai gaikuang (1891-1936)' (The rise and fall of the Sichuan cotton textile industry between the opening of Chongqing as a port and the Anti-Japanese War, 1891-1936), Sichuan wenshi ziliao xuanji 40 (1992), pp. 144-8.
79. Hu Kwoh-hwa, 'Price Behavior of Rice in Szechwan', Economic Facts 15 (April 1941): 140.
80. Robert F. Dernberger, 'The Role of the Foreigner in China's Economic Development, 1840-1949', in Dwight H. Perkins (ed.), China's Modern Economy in Historical Perspectire (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1975), p. 27; Chi-ming Hou, Foreign Investment and Economic Development in China, 1840-1937 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1965), p. 189.
81. Robert F. Dernberger, 'The Role of the Foreigner in China's Economic Development, 1840-1949', in Dwight H. Perkins (ed.), China's Modern Economy in Historical Perspectire (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1975), p. 27; Chi-ming Hou, Foreign Investment and Economic Development in China, 1840-1937 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1965), p. 189.
82. Hankou shangye yuekan (Hankou commercial monthly) 1.1 (Jan. 1934): 35.
83. Brandt, Commercialization and Agricultural Development, pp. 25-37; Loren Brandt, 'Chinese Agriculture and the International Economy, 1870-1930s: A Reassessment', Explorations in Economic History 22.2 (April 1985): 179.
84. Brandt, Commercialization and Agricultural Development, pp. 25-37; Loren Brandt, 'Chinese Agriculture and the International Economy, 1870-1930s: A Reassessment', Explorations in Economic History 22.2 (April 1985): 179.
85. Wang Lien, 'Farm Prices in Szechwan, 1910-1934', Economic Facts 9 (April 1938): 412-19; I have not yet found the original data for this study.
86. China, Maritime Customs, Decennial Reports, 1922-1931 (Shanghai: Inspectorate General of Customs, 1933), vol. 1, p. 473.
87. See Erlanson, 'Domestic banks', passim.
88. Akamatsu, Shina kakushô keizai jijô, pp. vol. 2, 179-80.
89. Han-sheng Chuan and Richard A. Kraus, Mid-Ch'ing Rice Markets and Trade: An Essay in Price History (Cambridge, Mass: East Asian Research Centre, Harvard University, 1975), p. 70.
90. SYB 4.5 (May 1934): 12.
91. SYB 4.2 (Feb. 1934): 75, 9.1 (July 1936): 131; J. Lossing Buck and Hu Kwohhwa, 'The Price of Rice and Its Determining Factors in Szechwan', Economic Facts 15 (April 1941): 117.
92. SYB 4.2 (Feb. 1934): 75, 9.1 (July 1936): 131; J. Lossing Buck and Hu Kwohhwa, 'The Price of Rice and Its Determining Factors in Szechwan', Economic Facts 15 (April 1941): 117.
93. SJYK 3.1 (Jan. 1935): 192.
94. Zhang, Yunnan jingji, J23.
95. You Shimin, Sichuan jindai maoyi shiliao (Historical materials on the trade of modern Sichuan) (Chengdu: Sichuan daxue chuban she, 1990), p. 225; SJYK 3.6 (June 1935): 199. However, the Bank of China (Chongqing Zhongguo yinhang, Sichuan sheng zhi xiabu, p. 197 and Figure 18) points out that the size of the decline in linen exports through the Maritime Customs is accounted for more by the industry's attempts to by-pass taxes in Chongqing by using the postal system.
96. You Shimin, Sichuan jindai maoyi shiliao (Historical materials on the trade of modern Sichuan) (Chengdu: Sichuan daxue chuban she, 1990), p. 225; SJYK 3.6 (June 1935): 199. However, the Bank of China (Chongqing Zhongguo yinhang, Sichuan sheng zhi xiabu, p. 197 and Figure 18) points out that the size of the decline in linen exports through the Maritime Customs is accounted for more by the industry's attempts to by-pass taxes in Chongqing by using the postal system.
97. There have been four attempts to estimate national economic aggregates 1931-36, but in all cases the primary (though not the sole) intention has been to develop averages to compare with other periods over the longer term: see Yeh, 'China's National Income, 1931-36'; P. S. Ou, National Income of China (Shanghai, 1946); Sueh-Chang Yang, 'China's Depression and Subsequent Recovery, 1931-1936: An Inquiry into the Applicability of the Modern Income Determination Theory' (Ph.D. Dissertation, Harvard University, 1950); and Liu Ta-chung, China's National Income, 1931-36: An Exploratory Study (Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution, 1946).
98. There have been four attempts to estimate national economic aggregates 1931-36, but in all cases the primary (though not the sole) intention has been to develop averages to compare with other periods over the longer term: see Yeh, 'China's National Income, 1931-36'; P. S. Ou, National Income of China (Shanghai, 1946); Sueh-Chang Yang, 'China's Depression and Subsequent Recovery, 1931-1936: An Inquiry into the Applicability of the Modern Income Determination Theory' (Ph.D. Dissertation, Harvard University, 1950); and Liu Ta-chung, China's National Income, 1931-36: An Exploratory Study (Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution, 1946).
99. There have been four attempts to estimate national economic aggregates 1931-36, but in all cases the primary (though not the sole) intention has been to develop averages to compare with other periods over the longer term: see Yeh, 'China's National Income, 1931-36'; P. S. Ou, National Income of China (Shanghai, 1946); Sueh-Chang Yang, 'China's Depression and Subsequent Recovery, 1931-1936: An Inquiry into the Applicability of the Modern Income Determination Theory' (Ph.D. Dissertation, Harvard University, 1950); and Liu Ta-chung, China's National Income, 1931-36: An Exploratory Study (Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution, 1946).
100. Tim Wright, 'Coping with the World Depression: The Nationalist Government's Relations with Chinese Industry and Commerce, 1932-1936', Modern Asian Studies 25.4 (Oct. 1991): 652.
101. Rowe, 'Tung Oil', pp. 372-3.
102. 'Yunnan nongcun jingji yu shengmin jingji zhi qubie ji qi jiuji' (The Yunnan rural economy and relief for the people's economic situation), Yunnanjianshe zhoukan (Yunnan construction weekly) 14 (Nov. 1935): 2.
103. Liu Shimo, 'Sichuan nongcun zhi bingtai' (Problems of rural Sichuan), Sichuan nongye (Sichuan agriculture) 1.4 (April 1934): 5-6.
104. See the report from Guizhou quoted in Lloyd E. Eastman, The Abortive Revolution: China under Nationalist Rule, 1927-1937 (Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1974), p. 191.
105. Zhang Xiaomei, Sichuan jingji cankao ziliao (Materials on the Sichuan economy) (Shanghai: Zhongguo guomin jingji yanjiu suo, 1939), U1-2.
106. China, Maritime Customs, The Trade of China, Annual Report (Shanghai: Inspectorate General of Customs, annual), 1932, p. 13.
107. Chen Xi, 'Yunnan duiwai maoyi de lishi gaishu' (An historical account of Yunnan's foreign trade), in Yunnan sheng shehui kexue yuan lishi yanjiu suo, (ed), Yunnan difang minzu shi luncong (Essays on nationalities history in Yunnan) (Kunming: Renmin chuban she, 1986), p. 441.
108. Zhang, Yunnan jingji, P2.
109. Lu, Kunming shi zhi, vol. 11, p. 350.
110. Other sources do, however, give different figures.
111. For Sichuan see Zhang, Sichuan jingji, E22-4 and SJYK 1.4 (April 1934); zhuanlun 5-10.
112. For medicines see Chongqing Zhongguo yinhang, Sichuan sheng zhi yaocai ('The Medicinal Produce in Szechuen Province') (Chongqing: Zhongguo yinhang zong guanli chu jingji yanjiu shi, 1934), pp. 163-4.
113. China, The Maritime Customs, Trade of China, 1934, p. 17; SJYK 3.1 (Jan. 1935): zhuanlun 74; SYB 7.5 (Nov. 1935): 159.
114. China, The Maritime Customs, Trade of China, 1934, p. 17; SJYK 3.1 (Jan. 1935): zhuanlun 74; SYB 7.5 (Nov. 1935): 159.
115. China, The Maritime Customs, Trade of China, 1934, p. 17; SJYK 3.1 (Jan. 1935): zhuanlun 74; SYB 7.5 (Nov. 1935): 159.
116. SJYK 3.2 (Feb. 1935): shengnei jingji 93.
117. SYB 9.2 (Aug. 1936): 231.
118. SYB 6.3 (March 1935): 87.
119. Zhang, Yunnan jingji, J18, T14.
120. For the 1920s see, China, Maritime Customs, Decennial Reports, 1922-31, vol. 2, p. 345.
121. China, Maritime Customs, Trade of China, 1932, vol. 1, p. 36.
122. 'Sericulture in Szechwan', p. 545; SJYK 7.4 (April 1937): 26.
123. 'Sericulture in Szechwan', p. 545; SJYK 7.4 (April 1937): 26.
124. Zhong Chongmin and Zhu Shouren (eds), Sichuan cansi chanxiao diaocha baogao (Report of an investigation into the production and sale of Sichuan silk) (Chongqing: Zhongguo nongmin yinhang jingji yanjiu chu, 1944), p. 8.
125. Shanghai jingji yanjiu suo, Shanghai jiefang qianhou wujia, pp. 239-41; Gan, Sichuan sheng jinchukou maoyi tongji, p. 76.
126. Shanghai jingji yanjiu suo, Shanghai jiefang qianhou wujia, pp. 239-41; Gan, Sichuan sheng jinchukou maoyi tongji, p. 76.
127. 'Sericulture in Szechwan', p. 545.
128. SYB 1.3 (Sept. 1932): 27, 1.4 (Oct. 1932): 41, 6.1 (June 1935): 71-2.
129. SJYK 3.6 June 1935): 183.
130. 'Sericulture in Szechwan', pp. 539-41.
131. Hu, Sichuan dili, p. 38.
132. SYB 7.1 (July 1935): 112.
133. SJYK 7.4 (April 1937): 26.
134. Sichuan nongye 1.2 (Feb. 1934): 49; Qiyeshi ziliao yanjiu zhongxin, Shanghai shehui kexue yuan jingji yanjiu suo: 'Report of the National Bureau of Economic Research: The Raw Silk Industry of Sichuan', p. 5. I would like to thank Professor Huang Hanmin for his help in giving me access to these archives.
135. Sichuan nongye 1.2 (Feb. 1934): 49; Qiyeshi ziliao yanjiu zhongxin, Shanghai shehui kexue yuan jingji yanjiu suo: 'Report of the National Bureau of Economic Research: The Raw Silk Industry of Sichuan', p. 5. I would like to thank Professor Huang Hanmin for his help in giving me access to these archives.
136. Zhang Xuejun and Zhang Lihong, Sichuan jindai gongye shi (History of modern industry in Sichuan) (Chengdu: Sichuan renmin chuban she, 1990), pp. 215-17.
137. SJYK 3.4/5 (April/May 1935): 147, 3.6 (June 1935): 181.
138. SJYK 3.4/5 (April/May 1935): 147, 3.6 (June 1935): 181.
139. SJYK 3.6 (June 1935): 179.
140. SJYK 4.1 (July 1935): 147.
141. SYB 6.5 (May 1935).
142. China, Maritime Customs, Trade of China, 1933, p. 31.
143. China, Maritime Customs, Trade of China, 1934, p. 38.
144. William Robertson, Tin: Its Production and Marketing (London: Croom Helm, 1982), p. 134.
145. Zhang, Yunnan jingji, J19, J24-5.
146. See Rowe, 'Tung oil', pp. 371-2.
147. SJYK 3.3 (March 1935): 59.
148. See e.g. SYB 9.3 (Sept. 1936): 217.
149. SYB 10.3 (March 1937): 146.
150. Fang Binsheng, 'Sichuan zhetang diaocha baogao' (Report on the sugar industry in Sichuan), in Xinan jingji diaocha hezuo weiyuanhui, Sichuan jingji kaochatuan, pp. 257, 262-3; SJYK 3.6 (June 1935): 201.
151. Fang Binsheng, 'Sichuan zhetang diaocha baogao' (Report on the sugar industry in Sichuan), in Xinan jingji diaocha hezuo weiyuanhui, Sichuan jingji kaochatuan, pp. 257, 262-3; SJYK 3.6 (June 1935): 201.
152. Hu, Sichuan dili, p. 29.
153. Chongqing Zhongguo yinhang, Sichuan sheng zhi xiabu, pp. 214-17.
154. FO371, F6095/87/87, translation from Central China Daily News, 23 Aug. 1934.
155. SJYK 2.5 (Nov. 1934): 2.
156. SJYK 7.4 (April 1937): 18.
157. SJYK 3.1 (Jan. 1935): 192.
158. Zhang, Yunnan jingji, P1.
159. FO371 F6095/87/87, translation from Central China Daily News, 23 Aug. 1934.
160. US 893.114, Narcotics/ 858: American Consulate, Yunnanfu, to Secretary of State, 8 September 1934.
161. FO371, F4317/87/87, Harding to Cadogan, 6 June 1934.
162. FO371, F5112/116/87, Harding to Cadogan, 13 June 1935; 'Yunnan nongcun jingji', p. 4.
163. US 893.114, Narcotics/ 858: American Consulate, Yunnanfu, to Secretary of State, 8 September 1934; Zhang, Yunnan jingji, P2.
164. Thomas G. Rawski, Economic Growth in Prewar China (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989), pp. 178-9.
165. SJYK 3.4/5 (April/May 1935): 166-7.
166. SJYK 3.4/5 (April/May 1935): 169.
167. Pierre Brocheux, The Mekong Delta: Ecology, Economy and Revolution, 1860-1960 (Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin-Madison, Center for South-east Asian Studies, 1995), pp. 153-4.
168. SYB 8.5 (May 1936): 129.
169. SJYK 1.5 (May 1934): diaocha 7, 2.5 (Nov. 1934): diaocha 1, 3.1 (Jan. 1935): 191.
170. SYB 8.4 (April 1936): 92.
171. Lu, Kunming shi zhi changbian, vol. 12, p. 287.
172. Second Historical Archives, 422(3)/127, Kunming factory reports; see also Lu, Kunming shi zhi changbian, vol. 11, p. 45.
173. Lu, Kunming shi zhi changbian, vol. 12, p. 277.
174. SYB 8.3 (March 1936): 103.
175. SYB 8.4 (April 1936): 79.
176. SYB 6.5 (May 1935): 140.
177. Xin shijie 10.5/6 (1 April 1937): 80.
178. Food prices for the working class seem to have risen throughout the 1930s, at least in terms of the local currency, see Lu, Kunming shi zhi changbian, vol. 11, pp. 82-3, 94.
179. Lu, Kunming shi zhi changbian, vol. 11, p. 43.
180. Lu, Kunming shi zhi changbian, vol. 12, p. 280.
181. Ibid., p. 164; China, The Maritime Customs, The Trade of China, 1937, vol. 1, p. 48.
182. Ibid., p. 164; China, The Maritime Customs, The Trade of China, 1937, vol. 1, p. 48.
183. 'Cotton-Yarn Trade of Szechwan', p. 1; see also Sichuan nongye 1.4 (April 1934): 34.
184. 'Cotton-Yarn Trade of Szechwan', p. 1; see also Sichuan nongye 1.4 (April 1934): 34.
185. Second Historical Archives, 422(3)/127, Kunming factory reports.
186. SJYK 3.6 (June 1935): 200.
187. Hu, 'Price Behavior of Rice', p. 140;
188. Buck and Hu, 'The Price of Rice', p. 119.
189. Lu, Kunming shi zhi changpian, vol. 12, p. 206.
190. Dietmar Rothermund, The Global Impact of the Great Depression, 1929-1939 (London: Routledge, 1996), pp. 16-17, 76; Neil Charlesworth, 'The Peasant and the Depression: The Case of the Bombay Presidency, India', in Brown (ed.), The Economics of Africa and Asia, pp. 63-64.
191. Dietmar Rothermund, The Global Impact of the Great Depression, 1929-1939 (London: Routledge, 1996), pp. 16-17, 76; Neil Charlesworth, 'The Peasant and the Depression: The Case of the Bombay Presidency, India', in Brown (ed.), The Economics of Africa and Asia, pp. 63-64.
192. Kathryn Bernhardt, Rents, Taxes, and Peasant Resistance: The Lower Yangzi region, 1840-1950 (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1992), pp. 48-9.
193. Jerome Chen, The Military-Gentry Coalition: China Under the Warlords (Toronto: University of Toronto-York University Joint Centre on Modern East Asia, 1979), pp. 134, 141.
194. Brocheux, Mekong Delta, pp. 153-4; Dietmar Rothermund, India in the Great Depression, 1929-1939 (New Delhi: Manohar, 1992), ch. 4.
195. Brocheux, Mekong Delta, pp. 153-4; Dietmar Rothermund, India in the Great Depression, 1929-1939 (New Delhi: Manohar, 1992), ch. 4.
196. Zhang and Zhang, Sichuan jindai gongye shi, pp. 298-301.
197. See for example China, Maritime Customs, Trade of China, 1933, vol. 1, p. 10.
198. SYB 5.5 (Nov. 1934): 101.
199. SJYK 4.1 (July 1935): 147.
200. Sichuan nongye 1.1 (Jan. 1934): 41.
201. SJYK 4.4 (Oct. 1935): 3, 5.4 (April 1936): 22.
202. SJYK 4.4 (Oct. 1935): 3, 5.4 (April 1936): 22.
203. SYB 9.5 (Nov. 1936): 100.
204. Tôkyô shôkô kaigisho, Shina keizai nempô (Annual economic report for China, 1936) (Tokyo: Kaizôsha, 1936), p. 618.
205. Second Historical Archives 422(3)/127, report by Xingminsan Match Factory in Kunming; 422(3)/110, report of Fuguo Weaving Mill, Chishui xian Guizhou.
206. SJYK 3.6 (June 1935): 202.
207. Cai Shaoqing, Minguo shiqi de tufei (Bandits in the Republican period) (Beijing: Zhongguo renmin daxue chuban she, 1993), p. 226.
208. SJYK 8.1 (July 1937): 30-1.
209. SYB 4.2 (Feb. 1934): 79.
210. Neijiang diqu dang'an guan, Minguo shiqi Neijiang shutang dang'an ziliao xuanbian (Collected archival materials on the sugar industry in Neijiang during the Republican period) (Neijiang, 1984), pp. 7-8.
211. Robert A. Kapp, Szechwan and the Chinese Republic: Provincial Militarism and Central Power, 1911-1938 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1973), p. 45.
212. Santai xian xianzheng yuekan (Administrative monthly of Santai xian) 1 July 1935, p. 86.
213. SYB 4.4 (April 1934): 82.
214. SYB 5.3 (Sept. 1934): 66.
215. Ding Changqing et al., Minguoyanwu shi gao (History of the salt industry under the Republic) (Beijing: Renmin chuban she, 1990), p. 148.
216. Zhongguo gongcheng shi xuehui, Zhongguo gongcheng shi xuehui Sichuan koacha tuan baogao (Report of the Sichuan investigation group) (Zhongguo gongcheng shi xuehui, 1935), 14:7.
217. Chris Bramall, In Praise of Maoist Economic Planning: Living Standards and Economic Development in Sichuan since 1931 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993), p. 234.
218. Rawski, Economic Growth in Prewar China, pp. 20, 23.
219. ibid., p. 38.
220. SJYK 6.4 (Oct. 1936): 54.
221. Bramall, In Praise of Maoist Economic Planning, pp. 250-1.
222. China, Maritime Customs, Trade of China, 1936, p. 20; also China, Maritime Customs, Trade of China, 1935, p. 17.
223. China, Maritime Customs, Trade of China, 1936, p. 20; also China, Maritime Customs, Trade of China, 1935, p. 17.
224. 'Yunnan jindai shi' bianxie zu, Yunnan jindai shi (The modern history of Yunnan) (Kunming: Renmin chuban she, 1993), p. 430; see also China, Maritime Customs, Trade of China, 1937, p. 47, etc.
225. 'Yunnan jindai shi' bianxie zu, Yunnan jindai shi (The modern history of Yunnan) (Kunming: Renmin chuban she, 1993), p. 430; see also China, Maritime Customs, Trade of China, 1937, p. 47, etc.
226. Hu, 'Price behavior of rice', p. 141.
227. SJYK 6.3 (Sept. 1936): 51.
228. SJYK 2.5 (Nov. 1934): diaocha 1.
229. Fang, 'Sichuan zhetang', p. 257.
230. Gan Diankui, 'Yijiusansi nian he yijiusanliu nian liangnian Sichuan zaiqing shuyao' (The disasters in Sichuan in 1934 and 1936), Sichuan wenshi ziliao xuanji 3 (1962), pp. 138-42; Kuang Shanji et al., Sichuan junfa shi (History of the Sichuan warlords) (Chengdu: Sichuan renmin chuban she, 1991), p. 429.
231. Gan Diankui, 'Yijiusansi nian he yijiusanliu nian liangnian Sichuan zaiqing shuyao' (The disasters in Sichuan in 1934 and 1936), Sichuan wenshi ziliao xuanji 3 (1962), pp. 138-42; Kuang Shanji et al., Sichuan junfa shi (History of the Sichuan warlords) (Chengdu: Sichuan renmin chuban she, 1991), p. 429.
232. Bramall, Living Standards, pp. 22-3.
233. Second Historical Archives 422(2)/1072: secret report, Administrative Yuan, 25 April 1937.
234. Zhenwu xunkan (Relief weekly) 34 (1 July 1936), 35 (21 July 1936).
235. Zhenwu xunkan (Relief weekly) 34 (1 July 1936), 35 (21 July 1936).
236. Gan, 'Sichuan zaiqing shuyao', p. 145.
237. Liu Hongkang et al., Zhongguo renkou (Sichuan fence) (The population of China: Sichuan) (Beijing: Zhongguo caizheng jingji chuban she, 1988), pp. 245-9 gives the age structure of Sichuan's population in 1982, which shows very clearly the effect of the 1959-61 famine, but shows no real trace of that in the 1930s; Li Shiping et al., Jindai Sichuan renkou (The population of modern Sichuan) (Chengdu: Chengdu chuban she, 1993), p. 96, shows steady population growth throughout the period.
238. Liu Hongkang et al., Zhongguo renkou (Sichuan fence) (The population of China: Sichuan) (Beijing: Zhongguo caizheng jingji chuban she, 1988), pp. 245-9 gives the age structure of Sichuan's population in 1982, which shows very clearly the effect of the 1959-61 famine, but shows no real trace of that in the 1930s; Li Shiping et al., Jindai Sichuan renkou (The population of modern Sichuan) (Chengdu: Chengdu chuban she, 1993), p. 96, shows steady population growth throughout the period.